The invention relates to a process for painting vehicle bodies, in which these are moved past at least one paint-applying application device with the aid of a conveyor system, said application device for its part being guided by an application machine, and in which faces of the vehicle body which have different inclinations are painted, and
a device for painting vehicle bodies having
a) a conveyor system for the vehicle bodies;
b) at least one paint-applying application device, past which the vehicle bodies are moved by means of the conveyor system;
c) at least one application machine, by means of which the application device may be guided.
It is known that vehicle bodies have faces which need painting and which, in their xe2x80x9cnormal positionxe2x80x9d as assumed when the motor vehicle is fully assembled, have very different inclinations in relation to the horizontal. Thus, for example, large areas of the roof, the engine bonnet and the boot lid are often almost horizontally aligned faces, whilst the side parts, in particular the doors, extend almost vertically. To enable all these faces to be painted in one continuous process, a plurality of paint-applying application devices have hitherto been used at different points within the paint booth, and these are guided by means of different application machines.
Thus, there are generally one or more application devices which are guided above the vehicle bodies by means of suitable application machines, said vehicle bodies for their part being transported in the xe2x80x9cnormal positionxe2x80x9d through the paint booth. The substantially horizontal faces of the vehicle body are then painted with the aid of these upper application devices. Further application devices are provided laterally in relation to the movement path of the vehicle bodies, and apply paint to the lateral, more vertically inclined faces. Here, the application machines which guide the upper and the lateral application devices necessarily have different constructions.
This known painting process and known painting device is disadvantageous in that the upper application devices have to be guided by application machines which extend over the body to be painted. When the application machine moves, it can free dirt which deposits on the vehicle body to be painted and thus impairs the painting results. It is, moreover, relatively expensive to provide different application machines for the different application devices.
The object of the present invention is to provide a process for painting vehicle bodies of the type mentioned at the outset, by means of which the painting results can be improved with relatively little expenditure.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that, for the purpose of painting faces having different inclinations, the vehicle bodies are rotated about an axis and are thus moved past the same type of application device and the same type of application machine in different angular orientations.
Therefore, according to the invention, the vehicle bodies to be painted are rotated about an axis such that their normally upward-facing, more or less horizontally aligned faces can now be reached by a, for example, laterally arranged application device. Therefore, the application machine on which this application device is guided no longer needs to extend over the vehicle body to be painted. Dirt which may drop off the application machine can no longer deposit on the vehicle body. Moreover, it is only necessary to use one type of application machine, which is of great advantage both in manufacturing terms and also with regard to maintenance.
The vehicle bodies are advantageously guided past the same application device a plurality of times, an angular rotation of the vehicle bodies being effected at one or more reversal points in the movement. With this type of process, the length of the paint booth can be reduced considerably, resulting in huge cost reductions. Moreover, the same application devices and application machines can be used for each xe2x80x9cpassing-throughxe2x80x9d of the vehicle bodies in different angular positions, which likewise reduces investment costs.
The axis about which the vehicle bodies are rotated is advantageously their longitudinal axis.
The object of the present invention is furthermore to provide a device of the type mentioned at the outset, by means of which the painting results can be improved with relatively little expenditure.
This object is achieved in that
d) the conveyor system has at least one rotating device in which the vehicle bodies are held such that they may be rotated in each case about an axis.
Advantageous further developments of the device according to the invention are revealed in Claims 5 and 6. The advantages of the device according to the invention and of the advantageous embodiments thereof correspond essentially to the advantages of the process according to the invention which have already been mentioned above.